Apparatus and method for facilitating the selection of products by buyers and the purchase of the selected products from a supplier

Abstract

A method is disclosed for managing the sale of a plurality of items from a plurality of corresponding suppliers to at least one buyer, wherein the one buyer determines a description of the item to be purchased. The method enables each of the plurality of suppliers to store at least one catalogue of its items in a database and responding to a search request of the one buyer to identify any item in the catalogues stored in the database with a description that matches the item description of the buyer.

1. A method of managing sales of a plurality of items from a plurality of suppliers to at least one buyer, the buyer determining descriptions of items to be purchased, the method comprising:
 enabling each of the plurality of suppliers to store at least one respective catalogue of its items in a database; and 
 responding to a search request of the buyer by identifying items in each of the catalogues stored in the database corresponding to items of each of the suppliers with descriptions that match the descriptions of the item determined by the buyer. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein responding to the search request includes providing to the buyer, for display to the buyer, a list of all of the items that match the descriptions of the items determined by the buyer. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein responding to the search request includes providing to the buyer, for each of the items in the list, an identity of the respective supplier who is supplying the respective item in the list. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the catalogues include images of the suppliers' items, the images being a 2D (two dimensional) image or a 3D (three dimensional) image, and the list of all of the items provided to the buyer are provided in an order wherein items having 3D images are provided with display preference over items having 2D images. 
     
     
       5. A method of operating an E-commerce system for marketing of a plurality of items provided variously by a plurality of suppliers to selected ones of a plurality of purchasers, the E-commerce system having a searchable database, a server, a purchaser network, a plurality of purchaser terminals, a supplier network and a plurality of supplier terminals, the server being programmed to transmit data bidirectionally via the supplier network between the database and each of the plurality of supplier terminals, to transmit data bidirectionally via the purchaser network between the database and each of the plurality of purchaser terminals, and to facilitate at least one of a plurality of buyers to purchase items from various ones of the plurality of suppliers, each of the plurality of suppliers having a dictionary of definitions of items, the method comprising:
 constructing orders for selected items by selected ones of the purchasers, each of the orders having a unique ID identifying the respective purchaser; 
 transmitting each of the purchaser's orders to a corresponding supplier, who formulates a response to the transmitted order, each supplier response including the unique ID of the respective purchaser and an indication of whether the supplier accepts the purchaser's order or provides a counter offer by modifying the terms of the order; 
 receiving the supplier's response from the corresponding supplier's terminal via the supplier's network for storage in the database; 
 forwarding a communication to the purchaser identified by the unique ID in the supplier's response; 
 accessing the database for all of the supplier responses stored therein and constructing a list of all of the supplier responses for display by the purchaser's terminal; 
 enabling the purchaser to select one of the listed supplier responses for display by the purchaser's terminal; 
 enabling the purchaser to forward a purchaser response to the respective supplier corresponding to the selected supplier response; 
 storing each of the purchasers' responses in the database. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein an order of at least one of the buyers is an RFP (request for proposal), transmitting each of the purchaser's orders comprises transmitting the RFP to each of a plurality of the suppliers, receiving the supplier's response comprising receiving responses from a plurality of the suppliers regarding the RFP for storage in the database, and enabling the purchaser to respond to one of the responses regarding the RFP. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising constructing a list of orders for items of a particular supplier from a plurality of buyers for display to the particular supplier by a terminal of the particular supplier.